Michigan State, No. 23 in the latest Golfstat rankings, looks like it will be ready when it comes time
to try to make it three straight wins in the Big Ten Championship when the
conference tournament gets under way April 19 at TPC River’s Bend in
Maineville, Ohio.
The Spartans, behind their best player, Allyson Geer-Park, a
junior from Brighton, Mich., had the best round of the day, a 3-under 285, to
claim the team title in the Briar’s Creek Invitational, which concluded Tuesday
at The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek in Johns Island, S.C.
Michigan State had built a three-shot lead after Monday’s
double-round and increased it to eight as the Spartans were the only team to
finish under par at 8-under 856 over the 6,101-yard, par-72 Briar’s Creek
layout. Their Big 10 rival, No. 68 Indiana, hung tough with a final round of
2-over 290 that gave the Hoosiers a nice runnerup finish at even-par 864.
It was another nine shots back to No. 25 Campbell in third
at 9-over 873 after the Camels posted a final round of 9-over 297.
The College of Charleston, ranked 65th, and No.
39 Old Dominion finished tied for fourth at 13-over 877, four shots behind
Campbell. The College of Charleston closed with an 8-over 296 while Old
Dominion finished up with a 9-over 297.
No. 88 Long Beach State headed back to the West Coast with a
solid sixth-place finish at 15-over 879 after the 49ers carded a final round of
10-over 298. Furman, at No. 20 the highest-ranked team in the field, was
another two shots behind Long Beach State in seventh place at 17-over 881 after
the Paladins posted a solid final round of 4-over 292.
No. 22 Clemson, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and
No. 61 Kansas, out of the Big 12, shared eighth place, each landing on 20-over
884. The Tigers struggled in the final round with a 302 while the Jayhawks
closed with a 300.
Other than a strong seventh-place finish for senior Jackie
Rogowicz, a two-time PIAA runnerup at Pennsbury, it was disappointing couple of
days for No. 50 Penn State, which finished alone in 12th place in
the 17-team field at 24-over 888 after the Nittany Lions closed with a 10-over
298.
Geer-Park matched the 5-under 67 she opened the tournament
with – it was the low round of the tournament and she was the only one to do it
– to finish off a four-shot victory in the individual chase with a 13-under 203
total.
Backing her up for the Spartans was Yurika Tanida, a
sophomore from Japan who matched par in the final round with a 72 to join the
group tied for 14th at 1-over 217. Paz Marfa Sans, a junior from
Spain and, like Geer-Park, a veteran of both of Michigan State’s Big Ten title
runs at TPC River’s Bend, finished in the group tied for 20th at
3-over 219 after she posted a 1-under 71 in the final round.
Valery Plata, a freshman from Colombia, carded a final round
of 3-over 75 to finish among the group tied for 36th at 8-over 224.
Rounding out the Michigan State lineup was Haylin Harris, a freshman from
Carmel, Ind. who carded a final-round 80 to land with the group tied for 58th
at 228. Harris’ even-par 72 in the afternoon of Monday’s double-round was the
Spartans’ second-best score of the round.
Clemson’s Ana Paula Valdes, a junior from Mexico, closed
with a 1-under 71 to earn runnerup honors in the individual standings,
finishing four shots behind Geer-Park with a 9-under 207 total. Indiana’s
Alexis Miestowski, a freshman from Schereville, Ind. completed a gritty 6-under
210 performance with a 1-under 71 that left her alone in third place, three
shots behind Valdes.
Valdes’ teammate, Alice Hewson, a senior from the United
Kingdom and No. 26 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), shared fourth
place with Furman’s Natalie Srinivasan, a junior from Spartanburg, S.C. and No.
29 in the Women’s WAGR, and Campbell’s Emily Hawkins, a freshman from
Lexington, N.C., at 3-under 213.
Hewson, a member of Great Britain & Ireland’s last two
Curtis Cup teams, closed with a 2-over 74. Srinivasan had the best day of the
trio at 3-under with a 1-under 71. Hawkins, who had been so solid with a pair
of 69s in Monday’s double-round, fell back with a 3-over 75.
Penn State’s Rogowicz played like the veteran she is,
finishing up with her second straight 1-under 71 after matching par in the
opening round with a 72 to finish alone in seventh at 2-under 214.
A couple of freshmen, Illinois’ Crystal Wang of Diamond Bar,
Calif., and Old Dominion’s Leah Onosato of Japan, finished in a tie for eighth
at 1-under 215. Wang closed with a 2-under 70 while Onosato finished up with a
1-under 71.
Backing up Rogowicz for Penn State was Sarah Willis, a
freshman from Eaton, Ohio who carded a final round of 3-over 75 to end up among
the group tied for 26th at 6-over 222. Junior Megan McLean, a
Voorhees High product, struggled to a 77 in the final round to land in the
group tied for 47th at 9-over
225.
Rogowicz’s fellow seniors, Cara Basso, the 2012 PIAA Class
AA champion as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy, and Lauren Waller, the 2015
PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Canon-McMillan, never got it going at
Briar’s Creek.
Basso, who earned a trip to the NCAA Madison Regional as an
individual last spring, carded a final round of 3-over 75 to end up in the
group tied for 56th at 227 and Waller carded a final-round 79 to end
up in the group tied for 70th at 233.
As she has in all of the events in the early part of the
spring schedule, junior Madelein Herr, the 2015 District One Class AAA champion
as a senior at Council Rock North, competed as an individual. And again, Herr
made a case for getting a shot in the first five as she carded a 4-over 76 in
the final round to finish among the group tied for 36th at 8-over
224.
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